Another angle of the deck, this one looking down the south stretch to the front entry way. We really like the look of the recessed can light in the porch ceiling.

Deck Fixtures

The outdoor lighting fixtures and bubble cover outdoor wall outlets have been installed on the deck.

640 Feet of Pine

Leaning against the garage is 640 feet of clear sugar pine trim (Pinus lambertiana) conditioned with Benite and then stained. We picked this up through our friends over at Woodcrafters, which is perhaps the finest finish carpentry supply shop in Portland. We chose the sugar pine because it looks good with the bamboo floors and maple cabinets. Something we didn't know when we picked it out is that it's native to Oregon, Washington and Northern California, and was likely harvested locally.

In the foreground, I think Rachael is collecting the nonferrous metal scraps the magnetic broom wouldn't pick up.

This past weekend we got all of the perimeter cabinets in and we got as far as roughing in the base cabinets for the island. None of these cabinets is attached to anything yet. We need to do a lot of measuring, fitting (and even make-believing that we're sitting at the island hanging out, eating dinner or cooking) to figure out what it will take to get this island together.

There are a lot of things to consider:

• Cooktop, oven and downdraft all have to play into that center base cabinet. It's going to be tight
• The island should be generally centered on the lights and the room and we need to maximize walking space around it
• We need to shape the island so that when people are seated at it major traffic through-ways aren't blocked
• We need to get power through the floor for the cooktop, oven, downdraft and outlets
• We need to be able to get a 10" diameter downdraft vent through the floor into a very tightly packed basement ceiling (packed with wiring, plumbing, etc), into a remote blower (which will also be attached to the basement ceiling) and then out through an exterior wall
• We need to make the island functional enough to work and cook on; some space will need to be designated as a prep area since the cooktop is so wide
• We don't want the island to be so big that it takes over the room
• We need to add otherwise unnecessary vertical support to the island because the base cabinets aren't strong enough on their own to withstand the weight of the concrete countertop Rude will be installing

Anyway, you get the point. This will turn out to be a drawn-out engineering brouhaha.

Backyard From Above

The deck surface is nearly done and the stairs should be done next week. We're still working on our railing solution, but we'll give you a hint: it's going to be considerably different than the deck railing we did on the last house. Rachael and Hannah have done an amazing job of clearing the yard of debris. It's starting to look a lot bigger than it has in recent months now that building materials are disappearing.

We took photo from the second floor bedroom, facing west.

Cabinets, decking, yard clean-up, oh my!

Sorry for the pause in posts - Justin's absence meant no new photos, and photos are the big draw. We'll try to have some up by tomorrow.

The last week was busy despite his work trip and Rachael's final week at school. An abbreviated punch-list of what we did:

*Bathroom fixtures were installed. The big flush/little flush toilet is a hit.
*Cabinets are (nearly) done.
*The yard has been cleared thanks in large part to Hannah L-K and her 8 hours of backbreaking labor. She's a workhorse! She was particularily found of the "magnetic broom," which is literarly a large magnet on the end of a stick. She must have picked up 5lbs worth of nails and other assorted metals while combing the perimeter of the house.
*The deck platform is complete.
*Trim was primed for installation next week.
*The unpacking and de-boxing continued.
*1000 lbs worth of scrapwood was hauled off and recycled at Farwest Fibers. They take everything there, from cardboard to carpetpad to clothes.

The week ahead promises big advances as well. We'll be installing stairs and stair-skirting (thanks, Dave), baseboard trim, the last of the interior doors, continuing the tiling of the first floor mudroom/landing and beginning the molds for the counter tops (Rude on both counts), getting windowsills in place, hooking up the appliances and beginning the labor-intensive process of getting rid of the energy and water-sucking grass (more on how we're doing this in a later post.)

• 6/18 :: Daniel adds : You live in Portland, if you can have grass anywhere, it's there - right? Why not just get some less water intensive varieties?

• 6/23 :: We add : Because we want to grow other things. Grass produces very little O2, absorbs even less CO2, requires frequent maintenance and does little to counteract the urban heat island problem. Also: We have this park two blocks away, and it includes one of the two regulation bocce courts in the city. We do love exotic grasses and have found a great wholesale vendor of these - those that grow taller and have unique colors or patterns. These will play a large part in our garden.
  

Inside a Box

We moved in this past weekend, shuffling the last box down the block and into the house at about 4AM on Sunday morning.

On Monday Justin left for San Jose for a few days of training, so we probably won't have any new updates until this weekend. Check back on Saturday or Sunday for a barrage of photo and story updates.

• 6/14 :: Denise adds : Woo-hoo you're moved in. Can't wait to see it. It looks really awesome in the pictures. Congratulations.

• 6/22 :: We add : Thanks Denise! Living in a construction zone is no picnic, but the excitement of settling in and finding our way around the place offsets the pain a little. :)
  

(Almost) Move-In Ready

Tonight we finished laying bamboo floors and got the fridge and dishwasher in place. Tim installed a lever and deadbolt on the deck doors. Earlier today Jason, our electrician, did some more trim out electrical on the first floor fans. The drywallers chopped a wire when they were here, so that added a good deal of time to Jason's troubleshooting.

Tim, Carlos and Fernando got some more decking down today but we'll save the photos of the deck for next week when there's more to see. Some of us were experiencing lung irritation yesterday and today, and the jury's out on whether it was due to last night's ammonia leak following an explosion at a nearby cold storage facility, or Ipe sawdust, which Fernando says can be somewhat abrasive.

Tomorrow our good friends Leslie and Kevin are going to help us move our furniture, books, and other odds and ends from the apartment over to the house. The house isn't quite ready for full-on living, but we have a fully functioning bathroom on the second floor, and tomorrow Dean is scheduled up our basement utility sink, dishwasher and washing machine, which will give us the essential plumbing we need for our daily routines.

This photo is taken from the front door. This is what the view from the front door looked like a year ago.

Bamboo Floors

Half of our first floor is covered with Easy-Lock bamboo made by Bambo. This is engineered flooring and goes in really easy. The bamboo surface itself is 1/4" thick with standing support ridges and has a green flaky substrate that makes a complete mess when cut.

That's a stack of unboxed bamboo in front of the deck doors. The cardboard in the foreground is a temporary protective cover so the high volume of contractor traffic doesn't thrash the floors.

Circley Square

Carlos and Tim spent some of yesterday finishing soffit for the front porch. It's now starting to look like finished construction; the porch is just about done save for metal roofing, railings and decking.

That's Dave in the photo. He spent all day with us yesterday laying bamboo flooring in the living room. Dave and Cynthia both have been a huge support for us and we can't thank them enough for their generosity.

The title of the post is somewhat literally inspired by the circle-shaped cutout for the can light and the square support framing in the soffit. In thinking of the circle and square, we took a line out of an absurd music video called Hands Are Bananas.

Subway Tile

These wall field tiles are 3" x 6" and are sometimes called subway tiles, presumably because you find tiles this size and shape in subways all over the world. These particular tiles are handmade and are about 3/8" thick. We picked them up at Dal-Tile here in Portland.

This wall will have tile running all the way to the ceiling since this is the corner into which we'll place the clawfoot tub.

Rear Deck Framed

Yesterday Michael and Jeff were back on site and they finished pulling the deck framing and stair stringers for the rear entry deck and front porch. The lower deck in this photo is the "recycling bench" on which we'll store our recycling and trash bins. The lowered deck makes it easy to toss things in from the back door and to move them on and off the deck to get them down to the end of the driveway for collection day.

Wood Underlayment

This 10 mm thick black rubber pad is our under-bamboo soundproofing. It's also from Sound Isolation Company. Wood floor soundproofing requires different materials and since our subfloors are ply wood and not concrete, we need a thicker pad than someone might use in a new high-rise condo. The pad is made from 93% post-consumer waste like as tires and old dodge balls. It's extremely heavy. One 4' x 25' roll weighs over 200 pounds, and we'll use close to 5 rolls. That's half a ton of soundproofing on our kitchen and living room floors.

Thanks to Matty Cat for lending us his heft this evening. Matt and Justin lugged these things up unfinished deck stairs and it was precarious, if not somewhat dangerous moving the behemoth rolls of rubber. We'd also like to thank Matt for his help a few weeks ago hanging insulation in the basement bedroom ceiling. (That too, was a soundproofing project.) Matt and Karen have been a huge support to us through this project and we'd be filling our milk with tears without them.

Fresh Tile No Traffic Until Tues Thanks

Today, Rude (pronounced "Rudy" for those calling him "rude," which he rarely is) planned and set the bathroom floor tile in place. We're using 3/8" thick Brazilian Black Slate which appears to be considerably strong given that it's stone, not ceramic. Rude tells us that stone tile normally ships in thicker grades.

The fuchsia wall coating is a waterproofing membrane that goes on a bit like liquid plastic. Once it's dry, it'll form a watertight barrier behind the tile. Water that does get behind the tile will run down to the floor tile and, with luck, either evaporate away or evacuate the room through the floor drain.

Tile Underlayment

Yesterday and today we've spent some time installing a layer of sound isolation barrier, which goes on top of the subfloor and beneath the finished floor. Since we have living space in the basement, we're hoping to keep noise isolated in each space. In the ceilings on the first floor we used spray foam insulation to keep noise from going through the ceiling into the upstairs bedroom. Given the foot traffic we'll have on the first floor, we are adding the additional layers of underfloor material.

For tile we're using a 3 mm thick styrofoam-like composite material with an adhesive backing, made by Sound Isolation Company. Our good friend Rude (of Portland Cement Co. and who's laying our tile and pouring our countertops) tells us that this stuff is great to work on and that it takes thin set (the mortar mix used to hold tile in place) as well as Wonderboard does.